More congratulations to former Thomaston High and Western Connecticut State University basketball star Amy Matthews McKenna on her recent selection to the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

Matthews will be part of a group of six inductees that includes UConn Associate Head coach Chris Dailey, that will be honored at the Cascade in Hamden, Wed. April 24 at 6 p.m. Matthews was inducted into the Western Connecticut Hall of Fame last year.

Matthews had a brilliant career at Thomaston High (1990-94), leading the Bears to three consecutive appearances in the Class S finals and the 1993 title in which she won MVP honors. She is the school’s all-time leading girls scorer with 1,565 points and second overall on the school’s scoring list.

Matthews’ brilliance continued in college. She scored the exact same number of points that she did in high school, third on the all-time list. She was a three-time All-Little East Conference selection and was named to the conference’s 25th Anniversary All-Star Team.

I covered many of Matthews' games in high school and she was an irrepressible force that could do it all – rebound, drive, hit the three-pointer. She continues to live in Thomaston with her two children and still shows up in the town’s Over-30 Men’s Basketball League.

It is another honor richly deserved.

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A couple of thoughts here on the resignation of Dan Dunaj as Torrington High football coach. First of all dealing with Dunaj was always a pleasure. He never sidestepped and was always willing to talk. He was a just a good guy to deal with.

That being said, however, the resignation is clouded by the hazing incident that forced the suspension of several players this past season. As my colleague Pat Tiscia said is column earlier this week, the allegations are serious they are still being investigated and you get the idea that they were in play here.

You like to hope that this is all about family and spending more time with the kids as indicated. You hope that is the case, but in all honesty, you wonder. Either way, we wish Dunaj well.

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Sometimes we need to be reminded that the UConn women aren’t invincible and Notre Dame keeps reminding us. The Irish kind of have UConn’s number these days don’t they? Down the stretch is Notre Dame making the plays not UConn. Not exactly panic time but certainly a reality check for the fandom

What does it all mean? There is no dominant team this year. Baylor beats Notre Dame, Stanford beats Baylor, UConn beats Stanford, etc. Sure makes it interesting.

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Hey in case you missed it, the Kennedy High gym will be renamed after long-time coach Jack Taglia on Jan. 24. Taglia won 354 games and three NVL titles in a 31-year career as the Eagles head coach. Former THS coach Tony Turina and Holy Cross coach Ed Generali will utter a few words.

Let’s see, Wilby now has the Reg, named after late coach Reggie O’Brien, Kennedy will have the Taglia, Torrington already has the Donahue. If we can get Holy Cross to follow and by naming its gym the Generali (he’s over 500 wins and still going) and Crosby to rename its Palace the Augelli (Nick is over 500 wins), it will all be taken care of.

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Lost my father-in-law, Joe Velletri, this past weekend after a long illness. A good man, who played and worked hard. And now healthy for the first time in decades. Special thanks to Tim Gaffney and Tony Turina, always good friends to have especially in tough times.